Nightmares
By Darkstripe The heroic, it is rumored, are without fear; but on the inside, hidden away from prying eyes, are those little dark and dirty fears that soon await a chance to play their game. Nightmares know how to free these fears, using them to break their victim's heart. What shadows torture these warriors in their sleep? What nightmares keep them up at night? Now be silent, dear kits, as I tell you the stories the brave don't want you to know. Author's Note: I take requests, so if anyone wants to hear the nightmare of their favorite cat, just comment! I promise I don't bite. Also, the first one to spot the MLP:FiM reference gets a cookie! :D Firestar: True Fear Firestar's nightmare is as good a place as any to begin, as he was surely one of the most legendary heroes there ever was, if not too perfect. His fire abolished darkness more times than I could count in a single night, and although I see protestation on the tongues of some of you ShadowClan kits, he did indeed save all the clans from total destruction not once, but thrice. Astronomical, he was, a gift from great StarClan themselves. But even if Firestar was a blessed wonder, not even he was safe from the treachery of his own mind. Now, his worst nightmare came as quite a shock to me. I never expected him to fear what he did; it was an unusual thing to be scared of, though I've no doubt the agony was unbearable. The dream came to him on a leaf-bare's night beside the Highrock, back in the old forest. It wasn't long after the battle with BloodClan, so it was expected that a cat who'd just gone through such a terrifying ordeal would have intensified dreams, but it unnerves me to think of this particular one. Firestar was, at first, simply relaxing in his den. He had become ThunderClan's leader very recently, so the bittersweet scent of the previous leader, poor Bluestar, still lingered in the musty air. Sometimes it made him feel quite sorrowful, remembering how the battered she-cat fell into a deep, maddened depression after her angry children denied her. Other times, it comforted him, as it felt like her energy was still near, coaching him as a mentor and protecting him as a warrior. Tonight he just felt nervous. He shifted awkwardly in his nest; the moss had recently been replaced and cushioned by the apprentices, but he still was unable to get comfortable. The way Spiderpaw and Shrewpaw had fitted the pieces of bedding didn't seem right, so he thought some tossing and turning might flatten it out to his taste. And so he did, for hours upon hours through the night... but that's a terribly boring part of the story, so I suppose I'll skip to the part you kits have been waiting for: When he finally stilled long enough to dream. Firestar was running through pitch blackness, colliding with objects completely invisible in the darkness. He was calling a she-cat's name. "Spottedleaf!" He gasped, leaping towards the beautifully dappled medicine cat, who stared at him with wide green eyes. She was far, far away, a smudge of tortoiseshell fur in the colorless distance; no matter how fast Firestar ran, Spottedleaf never came any closer. She was always tauntingly out of his reach. The faces of dead warriors flooded the darkness around Firestar, hundreds of horrified eyes, hundreds of shuddering bodies, and hundreds of gaping mouths crying out to him. Amidst their pleas, his possessed legs followed his love through the sinister shadows of this Stygian dimension. Come back, Firestar! Came the terrified mew of Bluestar, an anguished sound he'd heard in her final moments, as she plunged into the rushing water below. Firestar trembled visibly in his fur as Bluestar's bodiless head floated past his eyes. You'll never make it... don't abandon us to the blackness, my friend! screeched another voice, this time tarnished with the rust of many years, and it was a rasp he knew best on the tongue of Yellowfang. True to form, her scarred head was the next to follow Bluestar's. Go not to Spottedleaf, young leader. Whispered a voice so strong and wise it could only be that of Lionheart, the massive tom who was Firestar's idol prior to his heartbreaking death. What you find there will only hurt you. Several more pleading mews rang in his ears, and with each shriek, another bloody face flashed before his eyes. They called, and yet his legs refused to turn. At last, Spottedleaf grew closer as he ran. Firestar's pace slowed, and whatever entity had bewitched him into the wild chase seemed to have released it's icy grasp. His knees buckled under the sudden weight of his body, as the thrilling adrenaline he'd felt melted away like a snowflake upon a burning stone. Spottedleaf's green eyes blinked curiously as she stared at the exhausted Firestar, who now lay, panting, on his belly. "You've come a long way to find me." She said, her meow softer than a swan's feather. "I'd never let you go, Spottedleaf." Firestar said, shakily standing to his paws. He touched noses with the lovely medicine cat, relishing her flower-sweet scent. "Even if I had to run through all eternity, it would be no match for my love for you." The affectionate gesture lasted but a moment, when a sharp, scornful laugh rumbled in her throat. "Precious; but sadly a ridiculous sentiment." Spottedleaf said harshly. Firestar jerked his nose back in surprise at the cruel sounds, and he felt his heart beat with true fear when he saw the mocking in his sweetheart's gaze. "If you've really come so far in the name of love, then I'm afraid you've wasted your breath for nothing, you immature fool. I've found someone else." "...What?" Firestar felt dread crawl over his fur and bite down hard. Spottedleaf tossed her head nonchalantly, impervious to the apparent dismay on her love's face. "Don't look so astounded, Firestar." She drawled scornfully. "What were you expecting? That I, Spottedleaf of ThunderClan, would let past love sway my choices now? I don't belong to you. I don't love you. I don't even care for you." She leaned in closely, as though to lick his ear, but only a chilling breath escaped her mouth as she uttered one savage word: "Kittypet." It was when Spottedleaf emitted the brutal sound that Firestar felt long, piercing fangs jab into his scruff. Fangs that felt hauntingly familiar in his skin, like they had been there before. Their jagged shape and deadly curve, Firestar realised, were unique to one cat, and one cat only... "Hello, Kittypet crowfood." She had found someone else. Dark red blood rushed through Firestar's head, washing away his thoughts and tormenting his mind with a breathtaking pain. He tried to pull away from the shadow warrior, but the razor-sharp teeth only burrowed further into his orange scruff. The snakelike agony pulsing through his veins was biting at every muscle, scraping every bone, cutting like Scourge's claws once did. Firestar managed a pitiful mewl before falling back, helpless. Tigerstar's purr was malevolent, maniacal. Deeper than Spottedleaf's, but just as nasty. "Never thought I'd see this day. The hero kittypet, trembling in my grasp like a newborn kit. And how appropriate that his precious Spottedleaf and all of ThunderClan are on my side." Somewhere in the foggy world, familiar voices jeered, Firestar's name as their object of scorn. Tigerstar chuckled with the laughing clan, the vibrations sending more flashes of pain through his captive. "Just face it, Firestar, you'll always be a laughingstock. Your bravery will always be remembered as defeat. And those you love will always walk with me in my paradise of darkness." His voice seemed closer than ever as he whispered his final words into Firestar's ears. "Why don't you just give in?" Firestar squirmed violently in the warrior's jaws, crying out feebly into the mist. "No! Spottedleaf! SPOTTEDLEAF!" That's right, kits. This is when the mighty ThunderClan leader woke up, as safe as safe can be. There is something to be learned from all this, little ones. Yes, I know it was scary, but it had a deeper meaning than just the fright. Huddle close, you all must hear. Heroes may seem strong in every situation, but nightmares know how to make one feel weak. When you grow up, young'uns, remember that no matter how helpless you feel, you must never stop fighting. To give in is to die. Scourge: Violet's Revenge ~ Suggested by Flame Yellowfang: Alone ~ Suggested by Brambs Jayfeather: Seeing Red ~ Suggested by Pugiepaw Bramblestar: Awaken the Thorns ~ Suggested by Sea Squirrelflight: To Pay A Price ~ Suggested by Sea Category:DSfics Category:Fan Fictions Category:Stories Rated Moderate